The Association Between OR Traffic and Airborne Microbial Counts During Two Types of Abdominal Surgeries.

Airborne contamination via OR traffic (ie, number of personnel and door openings, personnel movement) can contribute to the deposit of microbes on surfaces and contribute to surgical site infections. Researchers at a midwestern health system used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the association between OR traffic and microbial deposits during colon surgeries and abdominal hysterectomies using nonparticipant observations and agar settle plate testing. Door openings were at the low end of published rates, although some openings were for nonessential reasons. Door openings were strongly correlated with surgery duration (r58 = 0.72, P < .0001). Total microbial deposits were weakly correlated with increased door openings (r58 = 0.37, P < .004) and personnel (r58 = 0.27, P = .034), but most (83%) of the wound zone deposit values were below the established threshold. Perioperative personnel may be able to reduce microbial contamination risk by decreasing OR traffic.